Working with the BIOS

Every personal computer has a system BIOS (basic input/output system), which is what takes control of your computer the moment that you turn it on. The screen that you first see when you turn on your computer is called the power on self-test screen, better known as the POST screen. If you purchased your computer from one of the major computer manufacturers, this screen is often hidden by the manufacturer's logo. To get rid of this logo from the screen, just press the Esc button on your keyboard; you'll then see what is going on in the background. At this stage in the system boot, the BIOS is probing the hardware to test the system memory and other device connections. After the POST has completed, the BIOS proceeds to look for a device to boot from. When it finds your hard drive, it begins to load Windows.

The BIOS also acts as a main hardware component control panel, where lowlevel settings for all your hardware devices are made. The device boot order, port addresses, and feature settings such as plug and play are all found in the BIOS setup screens. For example, if you want to change the order of the drives that your computer checks to boot from, you want to modify the device boot order. I have to modify this setting almost every time that I install Windows because I want my computer to boot off the CD-ROM to launch the install DVD instead of booting off the operating system on my hard drive.

BIOSes on each and every PC may be made by different companies or accessed by a different method. Nevertheless, the most common way to access the setup screen is to press F1, F2, or the Delete key when the POST screen is displayed. Some computers even tell you which key to push to access the setup screen, as my notebook does. If your PC doesn't allow you to access the setup screen in this way, consult your computer documentation or contact your computer manufacturer for instructions.

Note While you are making changes in the system BIOS, make sure you do not accidentally change any other settings. If you accidentally change a value of a setting and do not know what to change it back to, just exit the BIOS setup screen as the on-screen directions indicate and select Do Not Save Changes. Then just reboot and re-enter the setup screen and continue hacking away at your system.